Notice2023-03299
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment, New Mexico and Arizona
Primary source
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Published
February 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLMPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP Amendment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 33 (Friday, February 17, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10373-10375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03299]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNM931000 L51010000.PQ0000 LVRWG22G0690 22XL5017AP]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the SunZia
Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment, New Mexico and
Arizona
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended (FLMPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the SunZia Southwest
Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment and by this notice is
announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP
Amendment.
DATES: This notice announces the beginning of a 30-day protest period
to the BLM on the Proposed RMP Amendment. Protests must be postmarked
or electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site within 30 days
of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes
its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is available on the
BLM ePlanning project website at <a href="http://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG">http://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG</a>. Documents
pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at <a href="http://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG">http://ow.ly/HEkm50MxXbG</a> and at the BLM New Mexico State Office, the BLM Arizona
State Office, the BLM Las Cruces District Office, the BLM Socorro Field
Office, the Safford BLM Field Office, the BLM Tucson Field Office, the
Cibola National Forest Supervisor's Office, and the Sevilleta National
Wildlife Refuge.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the SunZia
Southwest Transmission Project Right-of-Way Amendment can be found at:
<a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest</a> and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrian Garcia, Project Manager, (505)
954-2199, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#58393f392a3b3139183a3435763f372e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d6b7b1b7a4b5bfb796b4babbf8b1b9a0">[email protected]</span></a>; or Virginia Alguire, Assistant Field
Manager, (575) 838-1290, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d2a4b3beb5a7bba0b792b0bebffcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6513040902100c1700250709084b020a13">[email protected]</span></a>; 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa
Fe, New Mexico 87508. Individuals in the United States who are deaf,
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services
for contacting Mr. Garcia. Individuals outside the United States should
use the relay services offered within their country to make
international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RMP amendment is being considered to
allow the BLM to evaluate SunZia Transmission, LLC's application to
amend its right-of-way grant for the SunZia Southwest Transmission
Project (Project), which would require amending the existing Socorro
Field Office RMP.
The proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project is composed of
two planned 500-kilovolt transmission lines located across
approximately 520 miles of Federal, state, and private lands between
central New Mexico and central Arizona. The Project traverses Lincoln,
Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, Hidalgo, Valencia, and Torrance counties
in New Mexico and Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, Pinal, and Pima counties
in Arizona.
The proposed alternatives would not be in conformance with the
Socorro RMP due to one of the following conditions: the right-of-way
would cross an area designated in the RMP as right-of-way avoidance or
exclusion, the right-of-way would cross a special designation, or the
project would not comply with Visual Resource Management objectives.
Plan amendments would be required for alternatives where no conforming
alternatives could be developed that would meet the purpose and need of
the project.
In addition to the alternative transmission line routes, two plan
amendment alternatives have been identified for each of the affected
RMPs, as follows:
<bullet> No Action: If no action is taken, then the right-of-way
for the project would not be granted and no amendment to the affected
RMP would be granted.
<bullet> 400-foot-wide right-of-way: The affected RMP would be
amended to designate a 400-foot-wide right-of-way for the proposed
project through the BLM right-of-way avoidance areas and one exclusion
area associated with an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The
Visual Resource Management
[[Page 10374]]
classes would be modified within the right-of-way. The Ladron Mountain-
Devil's Backbone Complex Area of Critical Environmental Concern could
be reduced by up to 4.7 acres to accommodate the right-of-way.
Minor deviations from the limits of the right-of-way may be
required to accommodate site-specific considerations, and any new
rights-of-way would be subject to case-by-case evaluations according to
future project applications.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The BLM's purpose and need for Federal action is to respond to
SunZia's application to amend its right-of-way grant (NM 114438) under
title V of FLPMA consistent with applicable laws. In compliance with
NEPA and FLPMA, the BLM New Mexico State Office has prepared an EIS to
analyze the environmental impacts associated with SunZia's application.
Proposed amendments to SunZia's right-of-way grant would require an
amendment to the Socorro Field Office RMP, which the BLM has analyzed
in the Final EIS. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's purpose and need
for Federal action is to respond to requests to co-locate the SunZia
transmission line with existing transmission line easements across the
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Forest Service's purpose
and need for Federal action is to respond to SunZia's application for a
right-of-way to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a
transmission line on Federal lands. The Department of Energy's purpose
and need for Federal action is to comply with its mandate under Title
XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by selecting projects eligible
for the Federal loan guarantee program established by the Act.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The proposed action is for the BLM to amend the current right-of-
way authorization to include proposed project components outside of the
existing granted right-of-way for the construction, operation,
maintenance, and decommissioning of the Project. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and Cibola National Forest may need to issue new
authorizations, depending on the alternatives under proposed Component
3, which includes a proposed, approximately 150-mile reroute of the
2015 Selected Route in Socorro, Valencia, and Torrance Counties, New
Mexico. The permitted route originates at a planned substation in
Torrance County, New Mexico, and terminates at the existing Pinal
Central Substation in Pinal County, Arizona. The Project traverses
Lincoln, Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, Hidalgo, Valencia, and Torrance
counties in New Mexico and Graham, Greenlee, Cochise, Pinal, and Pima
counties in Arizona. The route has four segments:
<bullet> Segment 1: Pinal Central Substation to Willow 500-kilovolt
Substation;
<bullet> Segment 2: Willow 500-kilovolt Substation to SunZia South
Substation (Segment 2a in Arizona, Segment 2b in New Mexico);
<bullet> Segment 3: SunZia South Substation to New Mexico Institute
of Mining and Technology; and
<bullet> Segment 4: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
to SunZia East Substation.
Prior environmental documents include a Final EIS in 2013, a
subsequent Environmental Assessment and Finding of No New Significant
Impact in 2015 to accommodate burial of approximately five miles of the
transmission line in three locations within the White Sands Missile
Range Northern Call-Up Area, and a Record of Decision in 2015. The BLM
issued a right-of-way grant to SunZia in 2016, authorizing use of a
400-foot-wide right-of-way across 183 miles of public lands
administered by the BLM. Construction of the lines has not begun.
SunZia is proposing to amend the existing grant in four components:
<bullet> Component 1--Localized Route Modifications: Consists of
proposed modifications of the 2015 Selected Route in six localized
areas in Segments 1, 2, and 3 in Pinal County, Arizona and Hidalgo,
Luna, Sierra, and Socorro Counties, New Mexico. After the right-of-way
grant was issued in September 2016, and pursuant to the requirements in
the BLM's 2015 Record of Decision, subsequent ground-controlled surveys
and engineering were conducted in conjunction with environmental
resource surveys to refine locations of project facilities and refine
the limits of the transmission line right-of-way alignment. Route
Modifications 1-5 are located on public lands administered by the BLM
and are proposed due to inability to obtain private rights-of-way or
easements, changes in land use, or physical constraints. Route
Modification 6 includes route modifications on private and state lands.
<bullet> Component 2--Access Roads and Temporary Work Areas Outside
the Granted Right-of-Way: Includes access roads that are on public
lands administered by the BLM outside the existing 400-foot-wide
granted right-of way. Access roads for construction, operation, and
maintenance of the transmission lines were planned within the 400-foot-
wide right-of-way as much as practicable. However, access to the right-
of-way, constraints due to steep or rugged terrain, and avoidance of
sensitive resources may necessitate the use of roads outside the 400-
foot-wide granted right-of-way. In Segments 1, 2, and 3, temporary work
areas, or portions of, are outside the 400-foot-wide granted right-of-
way for the 2015 Selected Route, requiring short-term rights-of-way for
temporary use. Temporary work areas include structure work areas,
construction yards, and wire pulling/tensioning/splicing areas.
<bullet> Component 3--Segment 4 Reroute: SunZia has opted to pursue
potential alternative routes that would relocate the Project's proposed
transmission line and associated facilities outside the White Sands
Missile Range Northern Call-Up Area, take advantage of an opportunity
to partially parallel the Western Spirit 345-kilovolt Transmission
Project, and move the eastern substation closer to proposed wind-
generation projects. SunZia is considering three alternative routes.
The three alternative routes are:
[cir] Alternative Route 1: Crosses public lands administered by the
BLM, Cibola National Forest lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service,
and private and state managed lands. All Alternative Route 1 sub routes
would cross 0.1 mile of the Ladron Mountain-Devil's Backbone Complex
Area of Critical Environmental Concern using Local Alternative 1A-7.
[cir] Alternative Route 2: Crosses public lands administered by the
BLM, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, and private and state managed lands. The
Alternative would co-locate within existing transmission line corridors
that pass north-south through National Wildlife Refuge System land.
Where Alternative Route 2 would cross the Sevilleta National Wildlife
Refuge, the easement width would be reduced to 100 feet to conform with
the existing El Paso Electric 345-kilovolt transmission line easement.
Alternative Routes 2A-1 and 2A-4 would cross the Rio Grande immediately
to the south of the constructed Western Spirit Project 345-kilovolt
transmission line.
[cir] Alternative Route 3: Alternative Route 3 would cross public
lands administered by the BLM, the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge
managed by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and private and state
managed lands. The alternative would co-locate within existing
transmission line corridors that pass north-south through National
Wildlife Refuge System land. Where Alternative Route 3 would cross the
[[Page 10375]]
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, the easement width would be reduced
to 50 feet to conform with the existing Tri-State 115-kilovolt
transmission line easement.
Both Alternatives 2 and 3 would be required for the Project.
Additionally, the BLM has considered and analyzed additional route
alternatives identified through public scoping, Title 41 of the Fixing
America's Surface Transportation Act, and Nation-to-Nation consultation
with Indian Tribes.
<bullet> Component 4--SunZia West Substation: SunZia also
identified the need for a high voltage direct current converter station
(SunZia West Substation) at a newly identified alternate location for
the west-end receiving terminal in Arizona east of Red Rock. The
revised location of the high voltage direct current converter station
is needed because operation and interconnection capabilities for the
west-end high voltage direct current receiving terminal could be better
served at a dedicated and separate site. The southern portion of the
current siting area (20-22 acres) for the SunZia West Substation
overlaps with the permitted 400-foot-wide right-of-way and is located
entirely on Arizona State Trust Land just east of Red Rock, Arizona. No
Federal authorization is needed for the southern portion. Adjustment of
the permitted right-of-way would be addressed with the State of
Arizona. The total siting area is approximately 80.7 acres.
The BLM analyzed SunZia's proposed amendments and alternatives to
the reroute of Segment 4 in the Final EIS. The BLM also considered a no
action alternative in the Final EIS (i.e., the BLM and other Federal
agencies would not approve the localized route modifications, access
roads and temporary work areas outside the granted right-of-way, the
Segment 4 reroute, and the new location for the SunZia West
Substation).
Agency-Proposed Alternative
The BLM has identified parts of the four proposed Project
components as the agency's Proposed Alternative. The agency's Proposed
Alternative is as follows:
<bullet> Component 1: Localized route modifications 1-5, and the
2015 Selected Route (the no action alternative in the Final EIS) for
local route modification 6 in the Pinal Central area;
<bullet> Component 2: All access roads and temporary workspaces
outside the granted right-of-way;
<bullet> Component 3: Alternative Route 2 (Subroute 2A-1) and
Alternative Route 3 (Subroute 3A-1), which include crossing the
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge as well as co-locating the proposed
SunZia Transmission Line with the Western Spirit 345-kilovolt
Transmission Line at the Rio Grande crossing. For Subroute 3A-1, the
agency Proposed Alternative includes Local Alternative 3B-2 to avoid
two private residences near the Project; and
<bullet> Component 4: The 2015 Selected Alternative.
Public Input Received
A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for the proposed Project
was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2022 (87 FR 25653).
Three virtual public meetings were held during the 90-day comment
period. The BLM received 125 public comment documents during the
comment period. The documents contained 609 individual comments with 36
substantive comments.
Comments on the Draft EIS received from the public and internal BLM
review were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the Final
EIS. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text but
did not significantly change proposed decisions.
Protest of the Proposed RMP Amendment
BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated in
the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP Amendment may
protest its approval to the BLM. Protest on the Proposed RMP Amendment
constitutes the final opportunity for administrative review of the
proposed land use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an
approved RMP Amendment. Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment may be found online (see
ADDRESSES). All protests must be in writing and mailed to the
appropriate address or submitted electronically through the BLM
ePlanning project website (see ADDRESSES). Protests submitted
electronically by any means other than the ePlanning project website or
by fax will be invalid unless a hard copy of the protest is also
submitted. The BLM will render a written decision on each protest. The
protest decision of the BLM shall be the final decision of the
Department of the Interior. Responses to valid protest issues will be
compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report made available
following the protest resolution online at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports</a>. Upon resolution of protests, the BLM will issue a Record of
Decision and Approved RMP Amendment.
Before including your phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR
1610.5.)
Melanie G. Barnes,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-03299 Filed 2-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-23-P
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